A Soul to Embrace (Duskwalker Brides #8)

Chapter 21

Once more steadying a wobbly Zylah with a grip on her forearm, Jabez waited for her to settle after they teleported from the tree branch to the ground. Since he could see past all the glamours he’d placed on them both, he waited until her white orbs morphed back to their alluring teal, then let her go so she could stand on her own.

He’d made sure they materialised in a spot where there were no people, as he was almost certain he was the only one with the ability.

It was a rare one, which had taken years to perfect.

I’m still thankful I discovered the secret room in that ruined mountain library. In Nyl’theria, many books and scrolls had been lost due to the Demon scourge and the Elvish fleeing, which had left treasures of knowledge behind for Jabez to find.

The Demons destroyed most of what lay within the main area of the library, except for a hidden section that held special scrolls of magic. Among other things, there was information on teleportation, portal magic, and the ability to regenerate – although that last one he discovered on his own through necessity.

Most of this knowledge had been deemed forbidden due to how dangerous it could be. He’d suffered many of the aftereffects from wrongly executing the different abilities and had nearly lost his life many times.

He couldn’t teleport across realms, although he was sure if he held greater mana, he may have been able to. He’d originally learned how to do it so he could perfect singular portal magic. Unfortunately, portal magic was far more difficult, unless one were to create chaos portals.

He had managed to perfect that ability to a certain degree with the help of some exceedingly rare gilded ore.

He’d been hoping to create his own portal to Nyl’theria for the Demons to travel through, but the distance was too far, and just one portal alone could severely deplete his magic. In reality, the furthest Jabez could have created a portal was a few thousand kilometres – which mostly limited him to within the Veil.

That magic is lost to me now.

After the battle between himself, those pesky humans, and the Witch Owl, the necklace he’d smelted of gilded ore had been destroyed when he consumed its power to save his own life. A small cost to pay, considering he’d been holding up the weight of his own castle as it threatened to crush him.

Not that it’d mattered in the end.

I can go back to that mine, but I don’t think I’d risk it again.

Gilded ore was considered sacred and mining it got you cursed. Then again, touching the very essence of the Gilded Maiden’s tears – the head deity of the Elysian Elves – was considered taboo. He hadn’t given a shit; she was no goddess of his and he refused to respect her rules when it meant more power for himself.

Still, although he deemed that endeavour a failure, his ability to teleport now was second nature to him. It was a useful tool in his arsenal and had made him appear godlike in the eyes of many worshipping Demons.

As much as it humoured him to see Zylah’s knees turn inwards, he understood what she was experiencing. It was disorientating. He’d help her through it until her body adjusted to the sudden hurtling that brought on motion sickness.

I have to be careful about how much magic I expend right now. Teleporting so frequently and casting not only two physical glamours, two scent glamours, and giving her the ability to sense through them, already drained his newly re-invigorated magic heavily.

The mana stone he’d consumed only sparked his magic back to life and gave him a little to immediately expend. It’d take time, days even, to be at his optimal strength and capacity.

I probably shouldn’t have altered my body so heavily.

Although most of his glamour was visual, he did give himself one physical change; he tucked his balls and dick away behind a false seam. The likelihood of getting into a death brawl in Spiral Haven was exceptionally low, but Jabez liked to be prepared for anything.

Demons were rather callous when it came to battles, and they fought without honour. If they could tell he had something dangling between his legs, they’d waste no time trying to grab his nutsack with a clawed fist and squeeze until he screamed.

A quake of repulsion ripped through him in memory of the one time he’d actually been dealt such pain. Thankfully he’d managed to break their arm before they could rip his balls off, but it was now a fear he refused to repeat.

Thus, he constantly shielded all his dangly bits behind a seam like most Demons. Being punched there was preferable over a gory removal, although that could still make his eyes water in agony.

When he was alone with Zylah again, and wasn’t surrounded by potential danger, he’d release them to their natural state. Doing so for the past two months had been pleasant, and it reminded him how much his precious jewels preferred the freedom.

Ah, the things I have done to protect myself. Another was hiding his Elvish markings by morphing them into the black streaks he’d displayed for most of his life, giving him more of a Demon appearance.

Once Zylah was able to stand on her own, she was quick to move, as if she wanted to throw herself into the chaos of the village. Her excitement was contagious, despite the fact that he’d walked these streets countless times.

He tried to see it through her eyes, especially when she let out a cute rasp at the twinkling lights moving here and there.

Now that they were on the ground, the last remaining fireflies swarmed as they tried to escape before dawn. Something about this place brought those insects here, and he often wondered if it was the nectar mead that many establishments sold.

Hanging between the browns, creams, and clay orange of the many buildings, lanterns helped to illuminate the splashes of colour. Red was the most common, but Demons enjoyed the luxuries of different colours. They tried to make Spiral Haven as bright and beautiful as possible, and they all involved themselves in that task.

The music was much louder now, as was the chattering and laughter coming from the throngs of people.

Her head twisted and jerked, facing one way and the other as she tried to pick up on strings of conversation. He thought the sudden loud influx of noise would bother or overwhelm her, but her excited panting and her bright-yellow orbs gave away that she was overjoyed.

She’s very different to the rest of her kind.

She was tackling this head-on, when he knew other Mavka would have immediately been on high alert and aggressive. She even ran straight into a street without caution, and immediately bumped into a group of Demons who were distracted by a heated conversation.

They offered no apology, even when she stepped back in surprise and knocked into Jabez. He pushed against her lower back in order to stop her from tripping, and she turned to him with reddish-pink orbs.

“Oh wow. It really is busy!” she stated from their empty pathway, her head constantly scanning the crowds.

Many different Demons passed them as they made their way lower into the village, each of them on their own mission. Some looked nearly human with varying skin tones, while others had a mottled, patchy appearance that mixed in with their void-like absences of flesh. Then, of course, there were many more that completely lacked human flesh and still had more animalistic features.

“Careful,” he warned when it looked as though she was about to throw herself into the street again. He grabbed her wrist to halt her. “It’ll annoy people if you constantly barge into them. You have to be self-aware when in busy crowds.”

She nodded as if she understood, but he had a funny feeling she wasn’t truly listening.

“I’ve never seen so many people,” she whispered with a coarse voice, before turning her head up to the closest rooftop.

A scrawny male with wings played some kind of flute. She pointed right at him and giggled when the male waved at her between notes. She was taller than everyone else, as was Jabez, making them easy to spot.

Most human-eating Demons didn’t gain great feats of height, but he’d met Elf-eating ones that were nearly as tall as himself. Jabez had, and likely would, tower over everyone who wasn’t a Mavka.

She waved back before facing Jabez with her feet stamping in joy, and he chuckled at her for it.

Part of him wanted to tell her to calm down, so she didn’t draw too much attention to herself, but he also didn’t want to take away her fun.

This is the first time she’s been in a village like this. She likely wouldn’t get to experience this again unless he brought her back here, or he achieved his goal and overtook the Elven city.

He also reminded himself that she’d been in isolation for all her life, and likely had oodles of energy to expend. He could imagine what that was like – feeling different and finally getting to experience being ‘normal.’

When he visited here, he often wore a glamour just to hide his identity and mingle as someone other than himself. His presence as Jabez, the king of Demons, meant people treated him differently.

Which often robbed him of normality.

He’d been robbed of that from the moment he was born.

Which is why a small smile curled his lips as he watched her bounce on her little bunny feet. It’s nice to see her experience this so joyfully. Even his chest radiated with warmth, although he wished he could have experienced such exhilaration alongside her.

At least he could do so vicariously through her.

Seeing she was getting impatient when she grabbed his forearm and tried to tug him into the street, he rolled his eyes playfully and let her lead him. Her touch was not unwelcome, even when she held his wrist and dragged him through the bulk of the crowd heading towards the centre of the village. They wanted to get to the markets before everything shut near dawn, which was when most of the stalls would close for their owners to grab a few hours’ sleep.

Getting bumped into didn’t bother him, but they each gained a wary eye as they passed people. He had to remind himself that he looked much different, and she appeared as a normal Demon.

Zylah pointed at everything that grasped her attention, which incidentally had her forearm shooting over the tops of heads. Many ducked, and a few wandered away from the potential of being smacked in the face with an irritated grumble or grunt.

He smiled at that. Even if she upset a few, Jabez was certain he’d be able to deescalate any situation should it come to that.

Perhaps because her feet moved so fast, it took a while for her to finally let out a yelp and stumble backwards. She hopped on one foot before tentatively placing it back on the ground.

She shuffled them to the side of the street. “Someone stepped on me.”

The laughter that burst out of him was great and loud. “Zylah, I’m not sure if you noticed, but you’ve been stepping on everyone we’ve passed.”

Multiple people had staggered because of her, and they hadn’t even been on the street for five minutes.

“Sorry,” she said to some random passer-by, who frowned and shook their head in confusion at receiving an apology.

He covered his face when the urge to laugh struck him again. Fuck me. What am I supposed to do with this female? He’d never seen her appear so bubbly, and he found it rather adorable.

She chittered nervously, and he lowered his hand to find her shoulders had turned inwards self-consciously at his snicker. He thought he’d hidden it well.

“It’s fine. They’ll get over it. A moment forgotten in the many others they’ll have.” When that didn’t seem to appease her, he cocked a brow as he tried to hide his humour. “How about I lead?”

He should have been doing that in the first place.

He waited for a nice pocket of space to open up before he took them back into the crowd. This time, they were able to walk side by side with ease, and he made sure they remained at the same pace as everyone else.

“They really can’t see us,” she stated with awe.

He placed his forefinger over his lips. “Not too loud with comments like that.” His gaze drifted over those around them, and thankfully no one had noticed. “It’s also best that you refrain from saying my name.”

He really didn’t need someone realising who he was.

“Okay. I’ll do better with that than last time.”

He nodded to show his approval before he deviated off the main path to one that was a little less crowded.

I don’t want to take her to the centre of the town.

They had no reason to go to the meat market, and he wanted to avoid looking upon the ridiculous statue they’d made of him. He really hated that thing, and how Demons sometimes knelt and prayed to it like he was some kind of deity or saviour. He was neither, obviously.

But people of all species needed a faith to cling to, and he’d allowed the Demons to hold onto his promises. It kept them compliant.

They emerged onto one of the widest pathways designated for popular food stalls. Demons were already lining up for certain carts, all of which contained some kind of meat. Each store specialised in a different way to cook or serve it.

Whatever scent cloak they were using to mask the food was efficient, ensuring all those nearby who couldn’t control their bloodthirst weren’t impacted. Unlike his cloaking spell that allowed the waft of herbs, spices, and oils to float through the air while hiding the smell of meat, he noticed theirs cloaked everything.

It was a sad realisation, as it took away an important aspect of walking through a food market, but it was something that couldn’t be changed without his interference. Surely in the future they would eventually figure out how to mimic what he’d been able to do, but for now, this was sufficient to allow for harmony within Spiral Haven.

He slowed their pace to more of a meander to allow Zylah freedom to take it all in. Despite certain meats not being to his liking, he allowed her to be curious. She could likely read the signs crudely written on wooden plaques, although some were faded and needed repainting.

Some offered small spiced chicken pancakes, while others sold steamed baked potatoes sprinkled with pork. One of the most popular stalls was that of a folded omelette mixed with flecks of human meat, and another of fried fish on a stick.

What Jabez sought was simple, and his mouth watered the moment he found it. The stall was busy, as it always was due to its tasty contents.

They waited in line, and when it was their turn, he didn’t hold back.

“Three beef skewers and one chicken,” he told the male Demon attendant behind the counter working a coal grill.

Ansel, who bore a slashing claw scar across his entire tanned face, nodded, held his palm outwards, and flapped his fingers. A person of few words, he was asking what Jabez’s offer of trade was.

He placed a single piece of square human coin, pressed with a corn cob design to show which town it came from, into the man’s hand. Ansel picked it up and inspected it before curling his scarred lips back with disdain.

The burly Demon wiped the sweat away from his brow with his thick, hairy forearm, smudging charcoal up to his blond hair, then wiped his palm on his stained white apron. He threw four skewers onto his coal grill next to the many others already cooking, then slapped wooden tokens down on the counter. Three of them indicated beef, while the fourth represented chicken. Then he nodded his head for Jabez to move to the side.

A knowing smile curled Jabez’s lips as he took the tokens.

Had I come here with my usual glamour, he may have been more welcoming. The one Jabez currently wore was new, ensuring he wouldn’t have someone pull him into a conversation and push Zylah to the side by accident. To Ansel, he was just another nobody; a fresh face among the thousands who came here.

“Why did he look unhappy with your payment?” Zylah asked as she huddled between him and the stall’s corner.

“He prefers spices,” Jabez muttered quietly, watching as Ansel cooked. His stomach grumbled at the idea of proper food after fucking months of eating raw meat, fruit, and vegetables. “It’s always best to trade with what they are interested in. Food market stalls prefer anything that helps them continue cooking, whereas craftsmen prefer certain stones and crystals.”

“But he took it anyway? Was that a human coin?” she asked, causing him to cock his brow in surprise that she knew that. “I read about them in one of my books. Money, they call it?”

“They’ll take what they can get and will later trade those items with others for what they need. Jewellers will always take some form of coin because they can melt them down or make charms out of them.”

“Can I try paying for something next time?” she asked, her skull twitching side to side in bashfulness.

“Sure. Next time I’ll make sure it’s the appropriate trade.”

She nodded, her orbs flaring bright yellow in joy, before darkening into curiosity – the colour they had been since they’d begun adventuring through the village. Zylah constantly watched everyone passing by, occasionally rudely staring at those with distinct features.

He couldn’t tell if she was more curious about those who looked more human, or those with obvious snouts. Someone with a piggish nose and tusks snorted laughter, gaining her focus until they looked upon her like they felt her stare. She didn’t pull away from them, and almost rotated her head a hundred and eighty degrees as she walked past them.

A loud grunt called his attention. Jabez pulled away from his leaning post to place the tokens down on the counter while taking the offered skewers.

His mouth watered further at them in both his hands, and he immediately devoured one of the beef skewers drizzled in some kind of peppery sauce. He threw the wooden stick into the bin next to the stall – something Ansel had set up to help with waste management.

Zylah watched him intently as he chewed the last piece, then he held the single skewer in his left hand out to her.

“Want one?” he offered.

She tilted her head, then shook it. “No. I don’t want to go into a rage.”

Jabez rolled his eyes and waved it in the air at her again. “You won’t. Since the smell of it is hidden, and it isn’t raw, it’ll do little more than make you a bit hungrier.”

“Then why would I want to eat it?”

“Because it’s fucking delicious?” When she still didn’t take it, he sighed. “Just trust me. I wouldn’t tell you to try it if I wasn’t certain of your reaction.”

She tentatively took it, allowing him freedom to steal the chicken skewer from his other hand and begin devouring it. She was hesitant to take a bite, as if she thought it was poisoned, and grew annoyed when sauce dribbled onto her fingers.

Since she didn’t often open her mouth, it allowed him to watch how her maw parted. The large holes in her rabbit jawbone split apart alongside the black jagged teeth that filled in those gaps, but her ability to chew was stilted by the fact that she didn’t have cheeks to contain her food. He wondered if he should, at some point, explain to her why she had such a function.

Her kind look like little blobs as younglings. They remained featureless, black, and almost gooey in nature until they ate their first creature. But he’d learned something peculiar about them as adults by fearlessly poking around inside of Merikh’s mouth in curiosity.

Their featureless baby heads fitted inside their adult skulls, helping to fill in the gaps and crevices so their drool didn’t leak and their tongues didn’t dry out. It also kept their jaws together by sinew and tendons, and filled in their empty eye sockets, so what lay deeper within their craniums remained hidden.

Their skulls were merely exterior.

Her rabbit teeth and black jagged Mavka fangs parted in surprise as she sniffed the first chunk of meat, and she threw it across her tongue to fully taste it. As he thought they would, her orbs turned red, but she hummed in enjoyment. She was quick to swallow and consume the rest, although her fur puffed a little in aversion when she ate them too quickly.

“It tastes amazing, but it hurts my stomach after a little while,” she stated, throwing her stick away when he did.

“That’s the only problem for your kind. You may like how it tastes, but it doesn’t curb your hunger, and if it isn’t fresh meat, it doesn’t sit well.”

“If you knew that, why did you let me eat it?”

Answering around a cheek full of food, he said, “Didn’t it feel nice to experience something everyone else can?” He pointed his last half-eaten beef skewer at another person, who was scoffing their food down like their life depended on it. “Experiencing sensations is the joy of life. Food is a big one for most, and the better it tastes, the more enjoyable it is.”

She cupped the end of her snout in deep thought, lingering on what he said, before nodding. “Thank you. I guess it was nice, and I’ve never done that before. I didn’t even think to try.”

I know, which is why I’m allowing this outing.

He was in high spirits today, even with how horribly it’d started. His gaze lifted up towards the twisting canopy above, trying to muster up the regret he’d felt earlier. A small amount came, but not enough to squash his elevated mood.

When he’d woken up at Fayren’s that morning, sour from a shitty sleep, he’d resigned himself to cut off any form of attraction he held for Zylah. It was safer for her and safer for his peace of mind.

I can’t believe I didn’t even last a full day.

In the underground pocket of earth, the chaotic energy sparking beneath his skin had caused him to falter with very little effort from her. His magic had stimulated his senses. He’d been foolishly overwhelmed from his body heating up with life, and the sensation of power thrumming through him pestered other parts of him.

He still didn’t know what had overcome him when he’d threaded vines over her limbs, but her scent of jasmine and violets had fuelled the flames within him. Even the warmth of her waist between his thighs had tingled his groin, and her panting had been exciting.

Months of no magic and weeks of his emotions swirling into a whirlwind of disarray had warped his damn brain. That, and constantly ignoring his desire for this female, broke his resolve a lot faster than he could say he was proud of.

Then she’d licked him, kissed him in her own way, and his heart had pounded with feral need. He may have resisted if he hadn’t bitten her, but the moment he sank his fangs into her and she accepted them, his brain had feverishly melted.

I gave in so easily. He’d like to think he wouldn’t do so again, but he was self-aware enough to know the truth. I like her. He was attracted to her, regardless of the fact that he didn’t fucking know why.

The moment she turned around as if she wanted to move on, his gaze drifted down to her arse.

His nose wrinkled as a quiet groan hummed behind his lips. I should have touched her fucking tail. He’d been wanting to for ages, and he’d had the perfect opportunity and he’d squandered it.

He wanted to know if it was as soft as it looked, if it was sensitive. Did she like it being touched, or would it wiggle in his palm in aversion? Was her spine sensitive right above it like most with tails?

As much as he wanted to touch it, he considered it as inappropriate as just grabbing her breast, arse, or between her thighs at random. And he wasn’t so pathetic to ‘slyly’ attempt to do so in his own perverted curiosity. He’d either find out next time, which he would try to resist, or not at all.

It was probably a good thing he didn’t know, as it would only make him naughtier. The urge to twirl his forefinger around the tip of that fluffy tuft to tease her was nigh overwhelming.

At this rate, he doubted he’d last until the end of tomorrow either. I’m still fucking horny. Whatever enzyme was present in her arousal fluids continued to tingle his lips and fingers, and having it in his system from eating her out was keeping him high with need.

Her little moans and soft pants had also been sweet in his ears, and watching her bashful reactions to his ministrations still frolicked in his mind. She also seemed to be a needy creature for someone who was new to sexual intimacy, which only made him wonder what she’d be like if she had experience. What would she be like if she truly learned how to tease sensually? What about if she took control in a way that gave his hands freedom to caress as they pleased?

Her fur was so damn soft it’d tickled his face and palms earlier. What would it look and feel like to experience her tail brushing over his abdomen as he shoved his cock into her from behind? Jabez mildly shuddered at the imagery, while his shaft jerked behind his false seam.

Yes, still very horny, and after what they’d done, his mind had more to add to that perverted fantasy.

However, looking upon her tail, and the bottom of her plump, fur-covered butt did make him frown. Shit. I forgot her dress doesn’t fully cover her.

He glanced at those passing by, making sure no one was leering at her. Skilfully holding his last skewer, he managed to untie his cloak one-handed and throw it over her shoulders to shield her. He didn’t like how his ears heated in embarrassment when his motives for doing so weren’t entirely selfless – there was the smallest possessive need to hide those features from other males... like an idiot.

She pulled it so it sat better, while tilting her head in question.

“I think it’s time we acquire you proper clothing.” Something that wasn’t crudely made by him.

He removed the last two pieces of meat from his stick so he could toss it into the bin. Sauce leaked onto his fingers as he ate and led the way to a suitable garment store a few streets over.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed her orbs flicker purple for just a second as he was licking sauce from his thumb and middle finger.

The sane part of him told him he shouldn’t do what his mind suggested, while the more devious side of him was as perverted as always. Then again, what was a little mild teasing when he’d had his head shoved between those furry thighs of hers not even two hours ago?

He extended his decently long tongue and purposefully wrapped it around his thumb, then drew the digit into his mouth to suck it. He made sure to hold her gaze, and her orbs flickered a brighter purple. She chittered before looking away.

A laugh rumbled in his chest as he brought his middle finger in next, although he didn’t do anything perverted with it since she’d looked away. Her shy reaction had been cute, and it only made him want to tease her further.

Mavka make it too easy to mess with them.

Their colour-changing orbs were like a book to him, and unfortunately for her, he was blatantly aware of what her mind wrote.

This is fun. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d freely enjoyed himself like this in a female’s company.

It helped that he’d recently come, finally expelling much of his need. He was sexually sated for now, with a gut full of tasty food, and he had an alluring person fuelling him with high spirits.

Nights like this were non-existent in his life, and he’d try to savour it without regret.

He was uplifted despite the tiredness that began to weigh on him. With his weaker than normal mana waning from the creation of their scent masks and glamours, and his excessive use of teleporting, as well as the lack of proper sleep in nearly a week, everything was waning his strength.

Jabez ignored his exhaustion for now, for her sake. He could rest later.

There’s much more I can show her here. And, for the first time in a long while, he was actually looking forward to it.

Zylah wasn’t vain, she wasn’t self-centred, nor was she high-handed. He’d never courted a female like that, someone who didn’t exude confidence, and he was surprised to find he liked it.

I think taking her shopping will be nice.

It hadn’t originally been in his plans for tonight, but he had a feeling she’d be charming and appreciative.